Sofa-bed.



PATENTBD MAY 15, 1906.

J. T. SENG.

SOFA BED.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

v o r. n a u z 1 g No. 820,826. PATENTED MAY 15, 1906. J. T. SENG.

SOFA BED.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

atto'owmg.

PATENTED MAY 15, 1906.

J.T.SEN G.

SOFA BED.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.14,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

nvawfo'a W Lawi Q arbour; 15,

wvdcmaowo JULTUS T. SENG, 0F CHlUAGO, lLLlNQlS, ASSTGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGN- MENTS, TO GENEVA FURNITURE MFG. (JUMPANY, 0F GENEVA. NEW YURK, ACURPORATTQN OF NEW YORK.

no. senses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 14,1904. Serial No. 282,636.

Patented May 15, 1906.

T0 11 7] whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ULrUs SENG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago,

in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,

have invented a Sofa-Bed, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in sofa-beds, and particularly tothat class of sofa-beds wherein there are comprised movable seat andback sections hinged together at their meeting ends through the mediumof a locking-hinge, the back-section being operated through amanipulation of the seatsection.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a cheap and simpleconstruction of sofa-bed which when the same is withdrawn from the walla slight distance may by an easy and convenient manipulation of theseat-section cause the latter to be advanced and the back-sectionsimultaneousl ad vanced and lowered into a plane wit said seat-section,wherebythe two coact or combine to constitute a comfortable bed, and,furthermore, by a reverse manipulation of said seat-section the samewill be retracted within the frame and the back-section simultaneouslyretracted and relevated to its normal position, whereby the article isreconverted into an ordinary sofa.

Various other ob'ects and advantages of the invention will ereinafterappear, and the novel features thereof will e particularly ointed out inthe appended cla1ms.

Re erring to the drawings, Figure 1 1s a transverse vertical sectionalview of a sofabed embodying my improvements, the same being illustratedin bed form. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the back-section lowered andadvanced as in Fig. 1, the seat-section being elevated, so as todisengage the same from locking engagement with the back-section priorto a lowering of said seat-section. Fig. 3 is a similar view with thearticle shown in sofa form. Fig. 4 is a 'detail in elevation of thepreferred form of locking-hingeemployed between the seat and backsections, the hinge being shown in the position it Wlll assume when theparts are in the relative position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are details hereinafter described.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

The sofa-frame comprises the usual opposite end ieces 1 1, the two beingsecurely connecte by the transverse base 2. This base may comprise theusual box or receptacle 3,. such arrangement not formingv any part of mypresent invention.

Mounted removably upon the transverse base 2 is a seat-section 4, andbetween the two end pieces and in the present instance whollyindependent thereof, so as to be free to move therebetween, is theback-section 5. At their opposite meeting corners the two sections, theseat and the back, are connected, in this instance by a locking-hinge 6,the details of which I will now proceed to describe.

The locking-hinge 6 shown is the preferred form, though other styles ofhinges may be substituted. In the present instance, how ever, itcomprises the opposite leaves 7 and 8, designed in the usual manner tobe secured, respectively, to the end rails of the seat and backsections. Each of these leaves has formed at its lower inner corner onemember 9 of an ordinary. hinge eye. These two hinge-e e members overlapin the usual manner an are pivotally connected by means of a transversepintle 10.

' A stud 11 preferably headed, projects from the face of the hingemember-or leaf 8, near the outer lower corner thereof, and looselypivoted at a corresponding point on the face of the opposite hingemember or leaf 7, as at 12, is a stud-engaging gravity-latch 13. Thislatch lies across the faces of the two hingeleaves 7 and 8 and near itsfree end is provided on its under side with a recess 14, designed toengage the headed stud 11 under certain conditions. The recessterminates at its inner or front end in a shoulder 15 and at its upperor outer end in a shoulder 15. The recess being slightl longer than thediame ter of the shank'of t e stud, it will be obvious that the twoleaves are capable of some little pivotal movement or se aration beforeeither of the recesses is broug it in contact with the shank of the studand a locking of the two leaves effected.

Pivoted to the face of the gravity-latch 13, as at 16, immediately inrear and slightly above the recess 14 of said latch, is a smallgravity-paw] 17, having at its free end a recessed shoulder 18 and atthe opposite side of its pivot-point a stop-shoulder 19,'designed toabut against a stop-pin 20, whereby the movement of the pawl 18 limitedin both d1- rections. The pawl 17 at its free and lies across the recess14 of thelatch, and its shoulder 18 is slightly beyond the shoulder ofthe latch and, like the latter shoulder, is designed under certainconditions to engage with the headed stud 11.

At the outer side of the hinge there is secured in' a manner hereinafterdescribed or otherwise, as preferred, and to the end rail of the backsection 5 a bracket 21. This bracket is provided in the present instancewith a right-angular lug 21 for engaging the side rail of theback-section and with a screw-receiving opening 21*, through which ascrew may be inserted into said end rail. Its opposite branches projectout each side of the pintle 10 of the hinge, and to its front branchthere is loosely pivoted, as at 22, the upper end of alaterally-swinging supporting-rod 23, the lower end of which ispivotally connected to a stud-plate 24, secured to the lower crossrailof the end piece 1 in advance'of the meeting ends of the front and backsectionswhen said sections are arranged in sofa form. To the opposite orrear branch of the bracket 21 there is pivoted, as at 25, the upper endof a shorter companion governing-rod 26, the

lower end of which is pivotally connected by a stud-plate 27 to the endpiece 1. These rods are of course duplicated at each side of thesofa-bed.

In operation taking, for example, the article shown in Fig. 3 in orderto convert the same to a bed it is first necessary to withdraw thearticle a short distance from the wall, against which such articles areusually located. Having done this, the operator grasps the seat at thefront and draws the same forward and upward, thus raising the free endto the position shown in Fig. 2. B reason of this operation it will beseen that the seat and back are elevated aboveandlowered in advance oftheir former positions upon the base 3. This elevating and advancementof the seat and back is accomplished by the governing-rods 26 operatingin conjunction. with the laterally-swinging supporting-rods 23, for, aswill be apparent, the former rods being eccentrically pivoted withrelation to the rods 23 will cause the latter to swingforward as theseat is elevated, whereby the seat and back sections are caused to clearthe base in their turning movement. When the parts have reached thisposition, they are as shown inFig. 2. The operator continues thebackward movement of the seat for a short distance, or until the shoul-.ders18 of the pawls 17 have engaged with the shanks of the studs 11,after which it is simply necessary to lower the seat to 'thepositionshown in Fig. 1, the pawls11'7, it belng understood, operating in theusual manner,

of the stud-11, after which the seat passing 7 beyond the pawl the latch13 will be released, and for thebalance of the movement the lower curvededge of the latch 13 will loosely over the stud 1 1;

Toreturn the parts to the position of a sofa, the seat-section 4 isagain elevated until the inner shoulder 15 of the latch 13 engages withthe stud 11, after'which it is simply necessary to lower theseat-section and at the same time gently push the seat-section backward.The rods 23 and 26 coacting with these two sections will retract boththe seat and back section at the same time the seatsection is loweredand the back section elevated, thus bringing the parts to the positionshown in Fig. 3.

It will be observed that I have obviated in the construction of the endpieces 1 the usual guides employed for guiding the back-section 1n itsmovements, thus not only greatly simplifying the structure of thearticle as a whole and relatively cheapening the same, but also causingthe article to be more sightly in that all the mechanism is hidden fromView. It furthermore obviates the frictional contact between the endpieces and the back-section, rendering the movement of the latternoiseless and easier. The lower ends of the laterride ally-swingingsupporting-rods being ivoted reached a vertical position, and when thishas been accomplished by reason of the presence of the reargoverning-rods the two sections are balanced and may be moved in eitherdirection with little effort, so that the remainder of the operationthatis, of advancing and lowering the .back and simultaneously advancing andelevating the seat is practically automatically accomplished.

Of course other forms of locking-hinges may be substituted for theconstruction of hinge herein shown and described without departing fromthe spirit of my invention, and, in fact, other details may be alteredall within the scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination in a sofa-bed, of 0pposite end pieces, a transverseconnectingbase, a seat and a back section mounted between the end piecesand independent of the same, a locking-hinge connecting the seat andback sections at their meeting corners, a bracket arranged at each endof and secured to the back-section and extending at ceases opposite endpieces, the transverse connectlng-base, a seat-section mounted movablyon the latter, a back-section arranged between the end ieces, oppositelocking-hinges connecting t e two sections, and oppositely-inclined susension-rods upon whlch said sections are esigned to move, said rodshaving their lower ends connected to the framework at opposite sides ofthe meeting edges of the front and back sections.

3. The combination, in'a sofa-bed, of oposite end pieces, a transverseconnectingase, seat and'back sections, opposite lockthe two sections attheir meeting edges, ont and rear supporting-rods, theformer beinglonger than the latter, means for connecting said rods at their lowerends to the framework of the article, and means for connecting the upperends of the rods to the seat and back sections at opposite sides of thepintles of said lockinges. 4. In a sofa-bed, the combination, of theopposite end pieces, the transverse connecting-base, the seat and backsections indcpendently movable between the end pieces, the oppositelocking-hinges connecting the meeting ends of the said sections,brackets secured to the back-section and overlappin the front section atthe meeting edges of sai sections, suspension-rods connected to theopposite ends of said brackets, and means for connecting said rods attheir lower ends to the framework.

5. In a sofa-bed, the combination, of the opposite end pieces 1, thetransverse base connecting the two, the seat-section t and back-section5 independent of the end pieces, the opposite locking-hinges connectingthe sections 4 and 5 at their meeting ed es, the opposite angularbrackets 21 secured to the end rails of the back-section and overlappingthe end rails of the seat-section, and the suspension-rods 23 and26pivotally connected at their upper ends to the front and rear ends ofthe brackets and at their lower ends pivotally connected to theframework, as at 24 and 27.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JULIUS T. SENG.

Witnesses: j I

F. J. SENG, E. J. Samoan.

